National food reserves sufficient for emergencies: GDSR

The GDSR will buy 190,000 tonnes of rice for the national reserves this year. Photo cafef.vn

HÀ NỘI – The General Department of State Reserves (GDSR) affirmed on Thursday that national food reserves are sufficient to cater for emergency situations.

Under the Prime Minister and the Finance Ministry’s direction on ensuring food security amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the GDSR has assigned its regional departments to promptly purchase grain, including 190,000 tonnes of rice and 80,000 of paddy, to meet the procurement target for 2020 assigned by the PM.

The purchase of the 190,000 tonnes of rice is scheduled to be completed before June 15 while the paddy will be bought based on harvest times in different localities, according to the general department.

Now, the Ministry of Industry and Trade is working with localities and key rice exporting enterprises to review rice supply as well as implementation of rice export contracts and national food reserves. Then, it would have reasonable management for rice export, domestic consumption and national food reserves.

The ministry on Tuesday proposed the PM allow businesses to continue exporting rice.

This proposal was urgently sent to the PM after the General Department of Customs began nationwide suspension of registration and customs clearance for rice export on Tuesday.

The suspension is to implement the conclusion made by Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc at a national online meeting on food security in the context of COVID-19 pandemic held early this week in which he affirmed that food security must be ensured in every situation.

Last year, the GDSR bought 200,000 tonnes of rice and 80,000 tonnes of paddy for the national reserves.

The food is preserved in line with national technical standards and used to support disadvantaged localities ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday and between crops, while helping people address the consequences of natural disasters, crop failures and other circumstances, and perform other tasks assigned by the Government, the GDSR added. - VNS